StarCrossed or Wires Crossed?
by In-A-Parallel-World
Summary: He thought that it had been over a long time ago, that it was all in the past. But when an outburst from a friend forces him to examine how he's been living his life, he wonders if maybe he has just been lying to himself from the get go.
1. Chapter 1

**Here is a slexie fic for all you obsessed people out there! I've been wanting to write one for ages. Then there were already ones for the junkie Lex and the valentines one before I could get writing, and they all went ways I would have written them. So instead, I've turned what could well become a Jackson/Lexie (God, I hate writing those names together) moment into a Slexie moment because Mark needs to wake up and I'm losing patience!**

**Disclaimer:- I don't own Grey's Anatomy. Shonda is an evil genius.**

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><p><strong>Star-Crossed or Wires Crossed?<strong>

**Chapter 1**

"You still love her" Mark paused and looked over at Jackson "You still love Lexie"

It was a statement, not a question. Jackson remained silent. The last person he wanted to talk to about this was Mark.

"Come on Jackson, that's an even bigger reason to go out with someone else, you've got to move on."

"Like you did you mean?" He asked, beginning to get annoyed, he just wished that Mark would shut up and soon. "Yeah like I did" replied Mark, confused by Jackson's tone. "I mean, now I have Julia and things are going gr-"

"Don't kid yourself" Jackson cut him off. Mark turned to face him full on, ready for a confrontation. "And what is that supposed to mean exactly?"

"N-Nothing, forget I said anything" Jackson backtracked. He didn't want to start an argument with Mark, he'd been a good friend to him recently and a great teacher, he didn't want to lose that. But when it came to the Lexie/Mark thing it really brought out the bad side in him.

"No you meant something. So tell me" Mark urged. "Look I didn't mean anything, OK? Jackson replied, just hoping Mark would drop it. "I'm sorry I said anything, I-I can't talk about this with you, I just can't"

Mark kind of saw his point but he wasn't going to stop. He wanted to know why Jackson had said what he had. "OK, I'm sorry I brought up Lexie, and I'm sorry that she dumped you. But that doesn't give you the right to say stuff about my relationship with Julia, you don't know anything about it"

Jackson gave a sarcastic laugh. "Oh don't I? I'm sure by now she has told you she loves you, and its odds on that you haven't reciprocated." From the look on Mark's face he knew he was right. "Which means I know everything anyone needs to know about your 'relationship' because I've been in the same position and I can tell you now that she's not in the dark, she knows. OK? I mean, you don't even try and hide it either of you, so of course she knows, the whole hospital does, everybody knows!" Jackson wasn't sure he was overly coherent anymore but he ploughed on nonetheless. "And Lexie didn't dump me, I broke up with her, because I wasn't staying in a relationship with someone who can never, not even for a second, stop thinking about someone else. And she tried to deny it, she really did, but at the end of the day she just watched me walk away. So OK, yeah Mark, I still love Lexie, I'll admit it, now it's your turn!"

The elevator pinged and the doors opened, allowing Jackson to escape, before looking back to see Mark frozen to the spot, looking utterly flabbergasted as the doors closed between them.

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><p><strong>Sorry the first installment is really really short but elavators don't take too long, so its more of a taster of what's to come. <strong>

**Review?**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey guys, sorry for the short delay in getting this up but i wrote it, deleted it, wrote it, re-wrote it and still not happy with it but what can you do. i know where i want the next chapter to go but i really struggled with this one and how to get there. Conversation is not the easiest thing for me to write but as i do more im hoping to get better with practice. any tips are greatly appreciated and taken into account.**

**So to all of you that reviewed and put this on story alert, thankyou. I wanted you to have something to show I havent given up on this story, I just ask that you don't give up on me. I'll make the next chapter worth it. Again any advise you have for me, please don't be afraid to give it, i won't fly off the handle :)**

**Disclaimer- *insert all the usual bollocks here***

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><p><strong>Chapter 2<strong>

Walking into Joe's, Callie was 99.9% sure that she would find Mark slumped on a bar stool rather worse for wear. It was his turn for Sophia tonight and he had never previously been even a minute late. She had rung him several times but his phone went straight to voicemail. Something was up. And when something was wrong with Mark scotch became his friend. So she wasn't at all surprised to see him handing over his keys to Joe as she made a bee line towards them.

"Where the hell have you been Mark?" She asked him irately "I've been trying to call you for god knows how long! You're on babysitting duty tonight, Arizona and I were going out for dinner" Mark looked up from his glass and tried to focus on Callie; the only problem was that there seemed to be two of her. "It's not babysitting when it's your own kid. I'm not the nanny Torres, I'm the father."

"Joe, how long has he been here?" Callie asked the bartender with a sigh of resignation. So much for date night with Arizona. "since shift change, he hasn't spoken a word to anyone." Joe told her. "What? That was over 4 hours ago!" Callie exclaimed. Yeah something had seriously affected Mark today.

She picked her phone out of her bag and called home. "Hey babe, it's me…Yeah I found him, right where I said he'd be…No, he's in no fit state, I think we've got to cancel…I know, I know, me too. But I think I'd better stay with him. You're OK to stay with Sophia aren't you?…Thank you, I just can't leave him like this, he looks like he needs a friend…OK I'll call you later…love you too, bye"

After she hung up the phone she put it back in her handbag and sat on the barstool next to Mark. "So are you going to tell me what this is about? She glared straight at her best friend. "I don't want to talk about it Torres" he tried to put an end to the conversation but Callie wasn't one for letting things go. "Patient?" She queried. He shook his head. "Julia?" she asked surprised, she didn't really believe they could have had an argument, things had been going great between them: again a shake of the head. "Lexie" She sighed and rolled her eyes. There was no need to ask. It was always Lexie." You know, Avery…" Mark chuckled "…he ripped into me earlier, shouted at me in the elevator." Another chuckle "he reckons, you know, you've got to hear this one. He reckons I'm still in love with her" Mark laughed out loud now "I mean how crazy is that?"

"Joe?" Callie said turning towards the man in question "I'm going to nee-" She was cut off by Joe putting a vodka and tonic in front of her. "On the house" he told her "You're right you're definitely going to need a drink for this" She looked at him quizzically. "Hey, I'm a bartender, I know everything that goes on in here, which means I know everything that goes on in the hospital, yeah you doctors are kind of like my own personal soap opera" He gave her a wry smile and went to serve another customer, leaving her to face Mark and his denial alone.

"It's crazy right?" Mark continued, oblivious to anything else going on around him. "Mark, I'm not going to talk to you about this while you're drunk, we'll talk tomorrow when you're sober OK?" Her main goal now was to get him home in one piece and with Lexie on the brain she wasn't so sure it was achievable. "Come on, let's get you home" Mark didn't move. "No, I want another drink." he told her stubbornly. "Fine" Callie sighed "but just one more and then you're coming with me"

"And one for Dr. Shepard too" Callie told Joe, ordering the drinks, as Derek came into the bar and joined them. "Well thank you Dr Torres" Derek mocked the formality. He looked at Mark "what's up with you?"

"Oh he's just had a lot to drink" Callie told him. "Bad day" she added quickly, before Derek could ask further. "Yeah? Me too. I shouted at a nurse because I thought she was a racist, turns out she was staring because of my lack of knowledge about Zola's kitchen…or something." Callie laughed, glad to have something else to talk about " yeah her hair did look a little screwed up today" she admitted. "And you didn't say anything?" He asked her. She shrugged "you do your best, that's all anyone can ask. We're surgeons, we study hard, we know the theory but we have to learn on the job, it's the same with raising kids"

Just then, Mark gave a groan, pulling Callie back to the reason she was here in the first place. "Hey Derek, you couldn't do me a huge favour could you? She entreated. "What's that?" he inquired. "You couldn't help me get our best friend over here home could you, I'm just not sure I can get him up to his flat on my own." Callie put on her best begging face. "Sure, no problem" Derek replied, this was Mark, he'd got used to it over the years. "In fact, you know, it's probably just easier to get him to mine tonight and he can kip on the sofa" He added trying to be helpful. "Oh no, no, no. Baaaaad idea." Callie, waving her hands no and shaking her head vehemently, told him. Derek furrowed his eyebrows for a moment and took another look at Mark who appeared to have fallen asleep by this point. And then it clicked. "Oh! a Lexie day?" he asked. That's what he had named these days when Mark got drunk because of his sister-in-law. "Still, it is technically my turn…" Callie saw a plot forming in his mind. "What are you up to Shepard?" He looked guilty for a moment. "I was just thinking, that maybe…well we've been keeping them apart for a while now and it's clearly not having the desired effect so maybe…well pushing them together, making them talk, might be more beneficial and in a place where Jackson isn't going to appear…?" He looked questioningly at her, hoping she wouldn't find it too bad an idea.

"Jackson?" Mark had woken up. "Reckons I'm still in love with Lexie, delusional if you ask me! Hey Derek, when did you get here?" Derek gave him one of his sympathetic smiles "Time to go Mark" he stated picking his best friend up as Callie got his other arm. As they got to the car Mark turned to Callie "Fancy some sorbet Torres?" Callie looked at him shocked. "NO MARK!" She shouted at him offended "I have a wife and you have…way too many women problems right now. Besides it doesn't work, we both know that. It doesn't make you feel better, the only good thing that came out of that was Sofia. She was conceived by two people thinking about two different people!" "Well I'm not thinking about anyone anymore" Mark replied with a closed expression. "Well you have a girlfriend, so maybe you should be" Callie retorted. "Oh yeah, Julia…I should call her" Mark got his phone out but before he could dial his phone was pulled from his hand. "No you don't Mark, I'll keep that" Derek smiled at his friend. "I think your idea is best" Callie told Derek, taking him to one side. "I mean I like Julia but she doesn't deserve this, he needs to get to the truth before everyone gets seriously hurt" Derek nodded in agreement. "OK, I've got it from here though" he assured her. "you can go home" Callie sighed with relief. "Thanks Derek" She walked back to Mark. "I will talk to you tomorrow OK? Come find me and we'll talk" She promised and hugged him before going and getting in her car.

Getting Mark back to Derek's house wasn't as hard as he'd thought. Mark was definitely the sleepy drunk by now, so he pretty much did what he was told. Derek went to get some blankets and when he came back Mark was nowhere to be seen. Just as he began to panic he heard the toilet flush and made his way upstairs, just in time to stop Mark opening the door to the attic. "Whoa, what are you doing?" Derek hissed at his friend, trying not to wake anyone. "Going to bed" Mark yawned. "That's not where you sleep anymore Mark, remember?" he looked at his friend like he would a five year old. "Come on, seeing as you've made it upstairs, you may as well use one of the spare rooms. He herded Mark into the room opposite his and Meredith's and got him into the bed.

And that's how, the next morning after Meredith and Derek had already left, Lexie found herself walking out of the bathroom, wrapped only in a towel, and straight into a very toned, very bare, and very familiar chest.

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><p><strong>I know theres not much in this chapter from Mark and im sorry, but as i was writing i decided i didnt want a drunk Mark revealing his feelings, he has to be aware when he does it, otherwise it wont count, and Callie can get him to talk and soon!<strong>


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey guys. so sorry this took forever but ive found out im really crap at getting round to things, I get distracted too easily...oooh look, a duck! So here is the next chapter, eventually! Hasn't quite gone the way i expected but i haven't strayed too far. The lack of Mark and Lexie in my life has made it hard to write stuff, I hate such big gaps between episodes, especially when I know there will be more of the Lexie/Mark drama that is so not going to please anyone but yet we get our hopes up anyway. **

**To Jime-GA****-Lover ta for the advice, hope this is better set out and easier to understand?**

**Anyways...On with the story**

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><p><strong>Chapter 3<strong>

Everything Lexie had done in the past year had been about Mark.

She had realised her mistake even as she slammed the door shut behind her but there was no going back, not until Mark could understand that there were two people in a relationship. In her heart she knew that what Mark was doing was a good thing, he was taking responsibility for the child that he had created, and having a baby was always one of the things he had really looked forward to doing in life: they had even talked about it once, and even though she hadn't been ready she knew that when she was it was Mark's children she wanted. But he hadn't discussed it with her, he basically told her how it was and expected her to just accept the fact that another woman's baby was going to be part of their lives, so she walked.

But now Sofia was here and she wasn't there to share Mark's dream with him, and that hurt her so much more.

And she had tried to tell him that she still loved him, every action made around him, to her, was an obvious tell that she still cared but he didn't see it anymore. Then Julia had come along and Lexie had gotten so jealous that even Jackson couldn't ignore it anymore and so he dumped her. She had even let it slip that one time with those disastrous words "me too" and still Mark was blind to it. Then valentines day had been the worst. She had gone to his flat to tell him the whole truth so he didn't find out when it was too late, but Jackson was there and she just ended up babysitting while Mark helped Jackson study, hoping for the time when Jackson would leave so she could escape without it looking like she was running. So she decided to give up, maybe it already was too late…and then he walked into her in her own bathroom.

"JESUS CHRIST!" Lexie exclaimed as she bounced off his six pack. "Oh it's you, you scared the life out of me!…Wh-what are you doing here Mark?" She asked confused at his presence.

Mark only half awake and wholly hung-over didn't answer, he merely admired the woman in front of him as if in a dream, which in turn made Lexie, feeling overly self-conscious, pull her towel tighter and cling on to it for dear life.

"Well, you'll have to excuse me" Lexie spoke suddenly "I've got to get ready for work" There had been many times in the past where she had fantasised about various scenarios in which she found herself with a lack of clothes in Mark's presence but she had never felt the urge to escape as much as she did in this moment. She felt trapped and exposed. Taking a step towards him Lexie expected Mark to stand aside but he remained in his dreamlike state.

"MARK" She used his name loudly, trying to shake him out of his trance "You're going to have to move" She added as she looked up into his eyes. Big Mistake! They were the same gorgeously sparkling blue deep…her heart rate quickened…deep…her whole body was reacting…deep…oh she was falling…deeply hypnotic pools that she remembered. She snapped back to her senses. He had a girlfriend, he didn't see her that way anymore. She would always love him, no-one could help that but she had to move on otherwise she would be alone forever.

For the first time in a long time Mark saw Lexie's reaction to him and he knew exactly how she felt. Now he knew for certain - however real this felt, it was definitely a dream. The last time he had seen her look at him like that, with so much longing, so much hunger in her eyes had been right after the kiss that night at Joe's when he had tricked her into having a drink with him.

He slowly moved aside, giving Lexie space to exit the bathroom but as she did her body brushed against his. It felt like an electrical current had shot through him and sent his body into overdrive, he no longer had rational thought. Mark grabbed a hold of her and crashed his lips onto hers kissing her more deeply and passionately than he ever had before and that was saying something.

Lexie only had a second of surprise before she reacted to the kiss. She had felt the same shock run through her body and she was as ready as him for them to be reunited. Except…she was forgetting something…wasn't she?…she was sure…but the kiss lengthened and deepened and that nagging feeling of something being wrong just slipped away because how could this not be right?

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><p>"Morning!" April's shrill voice called to Lexie as she approached the nurses station.<p>

"Ugh, April, Why are you always so cheerful on a morning?" Lexie replied rather grumpily.

"The question is, why aren't you? It's a new day, full of opportunities, anything can happen" Kepner told her, as optimistic as ever.

"Anything already did" Lexie murmured, too quiet for April to hear. "So whose service am I on today?" She asked her chief resident.

"Well Alex told me about how you were in need of non-critical patients, so that's either plastics or ortho. Then Jackson said…well…anyway, I figured you'd prefer ortho." April backtracked.

"Oh god yes!" Lexie shouted in relief, she coughed. "I mean, if that's you're decision April, then its OK by me." She gave Kepner a fake smile. "Hang on, Alex told you ab-, Jackson said what exactly?"

April flustered. "Well, I mean, no, it's just, it wasn't, I didn't mean…"

"Ugh forget it, I'm off to find Callie" Lexie stormed off, today was just getting better by the second!

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><p>"Dr. Torres, I'm on your service today, what are we working on?" Lexie asked her attending as she walked up to her and took the chart.<p>

"Ah, Grey, Good morning, how are you today?" Callie inquired.

"Just fine" Lexie replied bitterly "Ready to break some bones"

"And how was Mark this morning?" She questioned, OK, she was snooping.. Something had gone on she was sure, why else would Lexie be in a bad mood if it wasn't for Mark.

"What? How do y- why you asking me?" Lexie became defensive.

Callie tried to play down her comment. "Well I just thought you might have seen him this morning, he got pretty hammered at Joe's last night and Derek had to carry him out of the bar, I just wondered how hung-over he was?"

"Very" Was Lexie's sullen reply "So do you need me to take Mr Harris down to x-ray?" She asked about her patient making it clear that that conversation was over.

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><p>Callie found Derek, Leaning over the nurses station talking to his wife who was charting. She didn't really want to interrupt but she had to know what happened after she left Derek and Mark last night.<p>

"Hey guys" She announced her arrival. "So come on, spill. Any loving happen last night?" She asked, ready for some juicy gossip.

"Excuse me?" Meredith asked affronted.

"Oh God, no, not you two, that would be rude to ask. No I meant Mark and Lexie" Callie hurried to explain.

Meredith looked none the wiser.

"You know, because of mine and Derek's plan, Mark staying at yours…" Callie looked at the exchanged glances between the couple "You didn't know?" She asked Meredith, confused.

"So that's why you rushed me out of the house this morning?" She accused her husband

Derek looked guilty. "Well, I figured if I told you, you wouldn't leave Lexie in the house alone" he admitted.

"Damn right I wouldn't, she's not in a good place right now relationship wise and you two trying to match make is only going to make it worse for her. She needs to get over him, move on. Her and Mark are doomed to fail and the sooner everybody realises that the better!" She chastised Callie and Derek.

"I know you're just trying to look out for your sister Mer, but Mark is our best friend" Derek told her, pointing between Callie and himself. "And he is hurting just as much. He's in a relationship that is based on some twisted version of happiness and not love, just like Lexie was. And that's not good for him, Julia _or_ Lexie." He looked at Callie for support.

"I-I'm not so sure it was a good idea, us interfering" Callie hesitated to say. "I think Mer is right. I've got Lexie on my service today and her mood is beyond foul, I was kind of hoping you'd heard something last night or this morning, but I'm pretty sure they've talked."

"Great, just great!" Meredith replied through gritted teeth, "Next time you two try matchmaking proven failures remember your amazing track records with relationships!" And with that, she walked off in search of her sister.

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><p>Meredith came across Lexie in the lift. She knew straight away that something was wrong. Lexie was always good with patients, putting their needs first, making them feel at ease, but here she was holding the back of a wheelchair with a patient looking scared to even breathe in case she took it the wrong way.<p>

"OK, before you say anything, I didn't even know Mark was in the house this morning" Meredith started slowly, trying not to make any sudden movements. She saw the patient roll his eyes in understanding: Grouchy women either meant period or men and this obviously meant guy trouble.

"Yeah sure, whatever you say Mer, I mean, it's only your house, why would you know who sleeps there?" Lexie replied snidely.

Meredith sighed. "Derek snuck him in last night and rushed me out of the door this morning, I never saw him. Do you really think I'd leave you in the house without letting you know? Seriously?" She asked her sister, shocked that Lexie didn't think that she would have her back.

Lexie just glared. "So what's up then? Something obviously happened this morning" Meredith asked.

"Oh so you just came for the gossip did you, be the first to find out how pathetic Lexie Grey is so you can spread it round the hospital!" Lexie snapped back.

Meredith looked stunned and was beginning to get annoyed with Lexie's attitude. "No, as a matter of fact I didn't! You're my sister Lexie, I was just trying to find out if you were OK and letting you know that you can talk to me without worrying about anyone finding out" She tried to reassure her.

Lexie huffed. "Come on Lex, you love to vent, I'm here, just go for it." Meredith coaxed.

"FINE!" Lexie submitted. She told her sister what had happened in the bathroom earlier.

"So you slept with him" Meredith stated .

Lexie's eyes widened "What? No!"

Meredith looked unconvinced. "He kissed you, you slept with him." She stated again.

"He…he has a girlfriend" Lexie said as if that were a good enough rebuttal.

"He's Mark, you're Lexie, that's what you do." Meredith explained.

"Well not anymore" Lexie told her sister. "It's mistake after mistake. I mean…he couldn't get away fast enough this morning" she ranted. "SHIT!" She hadn't meant to confess.

"LEXIE!" Her sister chastised.

Lexie's patient cleared his throat, the two doctor had clearly forgotten he was there. "I never realised there was so much drama in hospitals" He grinned, trying to lighten the mood in the confined metal box. "I can tell you two are sisters by the way, you've really got that protective/confiding/judging/disapproving thing down to a tee." he informed them.

Meredith looked at him shamefaced "I'm so sorry about this Mr-?"

"Harris, Liam Harris" He shook her hand "And don't worry about it, everyone likes a bit of gossip even when they have no idea who you're talking about"

"That's very true" Meredith replied with a smile.

Meredith's pager went off just as the doors opened. "911" She said, looking at the person stepping into the lift. "And I'm very sorry Liam but I'm leaving you with both parties" She mouthed a regretful _sorry _to her sister before scarpering from the scene.

As the doors closed the atmosphere grew very tense.

"Great!" Lexie said through gritted teeth.

"What's that?" Mark asked, ready for a confrontation.

"Nothing" She mumbled

"No, you said something"

"I just wish the lift would speed up" Lexie replied, trying to keep calm.

"What you mean is you don't want to be trapped with me" Mark deduced.

"Do you blame me?" She answered "I mean you're the one who couldn't stand to be in the same bed with me this morning, you suddenly get a guilty conscience and you can't get out of the door fast enough. Need I remind you that _you_ kissed me, _you _pulled the towel off me, _you _pulled me to your bed and _you-"_

"And you" Mark interrupted before she delved into too much detail. "you were the one that broke up with me, told me to leave you alone and as soon as I get a girlfriend you start saying and doing all this stuff, turning up at my flat on valentines day, so what was that about Lex? Huh?"

"Th-That was, were not, that has nothing to do with this" Lexie stammered.

Mark looked at her knowingly "Oh, I think that has everything to do with this. You come round to your ex-ex-boyfriends flat to "talk"" He air quoted. "And when you realise your ex-boyfriend is there you freak out and try and run. So don't try and tell me it isn't connected. Just tell me what's going on with you because you're acting even crazier than usual."

"Well maybe you should just commit me to the psych ward again then" She shouts at him

"_Lex_" Mark sighs, feeling the guilt of what he had done that time once again.

"What?" She replied "I'm obviously crazy, because **I'm still in love with you** even though you break my heart over and over again!" There! She had finally told him. Only it didn't feel like the relief she thought it would.

An uncomfortable silence fell over them until the doors opened to allow Lexie to escape, holding on to the handles of the wheelchair for dear life. As she walked away a sob escaped her, now she didn't need to be strong anymore.

"Hey, it'll be OK" A voice told her. It was then she remembered that she had a patient with her.

"Oh God! Mr Harris, I'm so so sorry." She apologized. "That was totally unprofessional of me. You must think I'm a horrible person"

"Actually I think you're brave" He replied honestly. "At least you told him, right? Do you realise how many people let that chance slip by?"

"I think I'm one of those people, I think I left it too late" Lexie confided.

Liam had seen the shocked look on the male doctors face, it seemed like it was the last thing he ever expected her to say and yet the only words he ever wanted to hear "We'll see…"

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><p><strong>We cant have them happy just yet, then there would be no story! Thanks for bearing with my extreme laziness, I'll try and get the next chapter up slightly quicker<strong>

**Please REVIEW, it's what keeps me going, knowing someone is still reading :) **


	4. Chapter 4

**Sorry this took so long to upload. I got busy and then the finale happened, which sent me slightly crazy. Was going to do it on Monday as well, but my laptop got a virus and I only got it sorted yesterday. Then my sister persuaded me to go swimming so I've only managed to do it today, with aching limbs. **

**Thanks to all who reviewed and are still interested in this. At the start of this fic I called Shonda an evil genius. My thoughts have changed but they're too rude for reading. So I'll just keep quiet, you all know how I'm feeling. This is finale free!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 4<strong>

"Hey Torres" Mark said, making his presence known as he stepped into the patients room. "You paged?"

"Yeah I need you to take a look at Mr Harris. He fell down the stairs this morning and broke an arm, leg and got himself a dislocated shoulder. He said he'd felt dizzy so I figured I'd get an ENT to take a look."

"Okay sure" he looked down at the patient, not recognising him from the elevator earlier, after all, his eyes had been fixed elsewhere.

Just then Mark's phone started ringing, he was checking his pockets for it when Callie passed it over the bed to him. He took it off her, saw the caller ID and rejected the call. He really couldn't talk to his girlfriend right now, not with everything that had happened so far today. He then looked up at Callie with a furrowed brow.

"Why do you have my phone?" He asked confused.

"Err…because you were trying to call Julia last night when you were drunk, and I dreaded to think what you were going to say so I confiscated it." She explained.

"You were at Joe's?

"You don't remember? Wow you really were wasted. Yeah I was there, I helped Derek carry you out of the bar. Apparently Jackson said-"

"I KNOW" Mark interrupted slightly louder than was necessary "exactly what Jackson said thank you.

Callie unsurprised that that topic was out of bounds sighed. "So why you hanging up on Julia anyway?"

As if on cue, Lexie walked into the room. "Sorry I took so long Dr. Torres, I had to-" she stopped short as she looked up from the papers she was holding and noticed Mark. She quickly passed the information to Callie and then made her excuses "You know, I…I…forgot to get the…thingies, so I…I need to go get…them…from…over there" she pointed and quickly retreated.

"because that wasn't weird" Callie stated, barely able to hide the smile forming on her lips. If she had her suspicions before, she was certain now. She turned back to Mark. "okay, spill!"

Mark cleared his throat trying to keep any emotion off his face. "You know you paged me so I could do my job don't you?"

"I'm aware of that but if I have to work with the both of you today then you are going to have to fill me in on the situation, plus I'm your best friend so you have to tell me everything" She smiled innocently at him.

Mark made an obvious gesture with his head at his patient "Not now Torres"

"Oh don't worry about me, I know everything anyway" Liam grinned at the two, he was beginning to feel extremely invisible in this hospital, did these doctor ever get round to any work with the dramatic lives that they led?

Mark gave him a skeptical look.

"I was in the elevator with you and doctor Grey earlier" He explained. "and with doctor Grey and her sister before that."

Callie actually snorted at her patients confession. "Busted!" she cried.

Mark rested his head in his hand and sighed. He really did want to talk to his best friend about this but not quite like this.

"FINE! I kind of bumped into her this morning in the bathroom, I was topless, she was wrapped in a towel and I half thought I was dreaming and I might have kissed her..." he mumbled embarrassed by his actions.

He looked up when he heard laughter. "Seriously Mark, that's what you're going with?" Callie asked before imitating his voice "I'm really sorry Julia but I slept with my ex-girlfriend (who I'm still in love with but won't admit to) but it's okay because I thought it was a dream, so it doesn't really count."

"I never said I slept with her, I said kissed."

"Yeah…you kiss her she has sex with you, neither of you know how to quit"

Liam laughed at Callie's statement. "That's what Dr. Grey's sister told her"

"Point proven. So that's it? you had sex with her, you didn't talk or anything?" Callie pressed.

Mark tried to keep a smile off his face as he told her the next part. "Well she might have accidentally told me she was still in love with me."

"Wow…wow… this is massive Mark. Well what are you going to do about it?" She asked excitedly, it looked like Derek's plan might be actually working.

"Nothing" Mark answered confused. "I'm with Julia, she wants everything I do, we're good for each other."

"Except you're in love with Lexie, and she loves you, you have to give it another shot Mark."

"No, I _loved _Lexie and then she left" Mark corrected.

"Because she didn't want to become a 26 year old grandmother! She was really trying with Sloane and you got ahead of yourself and tried to force her into doing all this stuff when she was barely ready to move in with you in the first place." Callie argued.

"So you're taking her side?" Mark accused.

"No, I'm just saying I see where she was coming from…"

"Well what about after that then, when we got back together, she walked again." He reminded her.

"You can't blame her for that, you dropped a bombshell on her and you knew before you told her that she wouldn't stay. She was hurt, you slept with me, your ex-sex friend and I know you were broken up but it doesn't hurt any less and then you told her you were going to be a dad and she had to just accept it." She reasoned with him.

"That doesn't matter. The fact is, she runs at the first sign of trouble, every time. And I can't have that in Sofia's life, she is part of me. Julia gets that, Julia wants to move in with me and have kids…"

"But you don't love Julia, not the way she deserves, and you never will because you are in love with Lexie"

"Will you stop saying that!" Mark replied angrily. "I'm not in love with Lexie!"

"Yes you are! And until you admit it to yourself this is your life Mark, drinking and ending up at mine or Derek's so we can keep an eye on you, avoiding Lexie and trying to convince yourself you're in love with your girlfriend."

"I'm not in love with Lexie" Mark repeated through gritted teeth "End of conversation! Now can I get back to work which is presumably why you paged me in the first place."

Callie sighed in frustration and flung her arms in the air. "Fine, I'm going, I'll leave you to it" As she left she couldn't help adding "but you know I'm right"

* * *

><p>Mark was sat in a booth in Joe's with Callie and Arizona, listening to a live band that was playing. They were actually quite good but he wasn't really listening. He was wondering if there was any truth in what Callie had told him earlier. He had to admit that every time he saw Lexie he noticed how beautiful she was, he could always tell how she was feeling just by her face and when she was tired or sad, which she was a lot these days, he had to fight the urge to go comfort her. He also had to admit how hyper aware of her he was and he always knew when she was in the room, like right now, before he even turned his head, he knew she had just entered the bar.<p>

He watched her make her way to the bar and quickly down three shots before Callie stopped him from torturing himself. "So you enjoying the band Mark?"

He regretfully pulled his eyes back to the table and looked at her and Arizona. "Yeah sure, they're pretty good" he answered as if he was interested in the conversation.

Just as the band began to play a new song, the singer stopped them and they muttered between themselves. As everyone began to wonder what was going on the singer stepped back up to the microphone.

"So I want you to think back to 2001. I was in high school and it was coming up to prom. Now there was this popular girl, she was amazingly beautiful and extremely smart. Everyone knew she was going to be prom queen you know? So of course she had hundreds of offers from guys for her to go with them. I was a dork who played music in his garage with three friends, these guys actually" he pointed to the rest of his band. "I worked up the courage and asked her anyway. She said I was the only one who realised that there was more to her than her looks so she agreed to go with me. I wasn't sure if it was a trick or not to be honest" he laughed "but she was there waiting for me when I got to her house. That night was one of the best nights of my life, for so many reasons. And I've just seen that girl for the first time in 11 years, so for old times sake, this song is for you _Sexy Lexie_."

He proceeded to play 'I'm a believer' while Callie almost choked on her vodka and tonic and Mark's head snapped up to look over at Lexie, who by now had a massive grin on her face and one more empty shot glass next to her on the bar. She downed another before making her way into the crowd and towards the front.

When the band finished the song Mark watched as Lexie ran up to the singer and flung her arms round his neck as he picked her up and swung her round. Mark felt something in his chest, something he couldn't place and tried to fix it by getting another scotch. Callie and Arizona left quickly after that, but not before texting Derek to be on standby. He carried on watching her throughout the night as the band finished up and joined her at the bar. They were all talking and laughing and drinking, Lexie and the singers arms wrapped round each others waists the whole time as the feeling in Mark's chest hurt more and more, all he could do was add more alcohol. The more he drank, the more it made sense. He worked it out, he was jealous, the kind of jealous that makes you want to knock someone out.

As he watched Lexie nearly fall over he couldn't stop himself anymore. He got up and walked over to the group. "Don't you think you've had enough to drink tonight?" He asked her.

They all looked at him and laughed. "Who are you dude, like her dad or something"

Mark didn't like the obvious dig at his age. "No I'm her…boss. Yeah I'm her boss and she has work in the morning." He thought that was a good reason for him to be concerned and it seemed to work on the guys "Who the hell are you?"

"I'm an old…friend" he replied, squaring up to Mark.

"Tom, leave him, he is so not worth it." Lexie put in, rather drunkenly. "And you're not my boss Mark, you're one of the many bosses that I have and I rarely work with you because you like Jackson, although you wouldn't if you knew what he did to you and your peanut butter cups. So what I do is no longer your business is the point i'm making"

"Well you're on my service for the next 4 days so I think you'll find it is my business"

Derek, who had walked into the bar and seen the tension building in the group decided it was time to move in. "Is everything okay over here?"

"Derek, thank God. Can I swap with Steve and be on your service tomorrow?" She slurred.

He looked over at Mark who was practically steaming at the ears by now. "Erm, yeah I guess so, you'll have to ask Steve though. Don't you think it's time you went home Little Grey?"

"Thanks, you're like the best brother ever." She told him as she hugged him, before turning back to Tom "you want to get out of here? We've got so much to catch up on…" she told him suggest fully.

He gave her a strange look and then saw the expression on Mark's face. Suddenly it all made sense. "Yeah sure, babe" and gave her a cheeky grin.

As they began to leave, Mark's green eyed monster took hold. "You're going to sleep with this guy? Seriously? Well I guess why not…You've slept with everyone else."

Lexie whipped her head round and he saw the hurt in her eyes. "FUCK YOU"

"If I recall correctly, you already did, this morning ." He shouted at her retreating back before grabbing another scotch.

* * *

><p><strong>Definitely didn't mean to go this way but I lost my story plan so it went the way my fingers typed so I'm going to have to work out where to go from here. I'll be updating 'Fateful Day' next. So check that out too, and my one-shots, they're all slexified.<strong>

**Reviews to help me keep going are always nice.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Here it is, finally! It's been a nightmare writing this to be honest but this is what I came up with. Again thanks to ML3MeantToBe because this chapter would definitely not have occured if not for the constant prodding because I kept wanting to give up on it but you wouldn't let me :)**

**And thanks to all who review - it means alot to know what you think. And I apologise for Mark in that last chapter because he wasn't supposed to end up being a complete twat, I didn't realise that it would come out the way it did - but it did so now I have to work with it. But he always makes stupid decisions so I guess it's not too out there for him to act like that.**

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><p>"Seriously Mark?" Derek asked as his friend grabbed the next scotch off the bar and downed it.<p>

"What the hell do you want Shepherd, and don't you dare look at me with those judging eyes and the superiority complex, it gets old" He shouted, still worked up from the scene that had just occurred.

"You know, it's a good job I've been your friend for a lot of years, because otherwise I would walk away right now"

"Well why don't you, no one is asking you to stay, I certainly aren't"

"Because you have just pressed the self destruct button." Derek explained easily, unfazed by the bitterness in Mark's voice. "I know you wish you hadn't just said that to her. I know you know it isn't even true."

"Oh really, because the way I see it, it's very much true. She packs her bags, she leaves me because what? Because I'm trying to be a good dad. She walks out on me and straight into Karev's bed. And then she walks out on me again and the next thing I know she disappearing into on-call rooms with Avery. So what the hell would you call it?"

"I would call that sleeping with two people" Derek rationalised. "If I recall, while she was sleeping with Karev, You slept with Addie again. Then you came back to the hospital and had sex with any female you passed, so time for judging is over Mark."

Even through the alcohol Mark knew he had a point, but he couldn't leave it. "Yeah well what the hell was Jackson then? I wasn't sleeping with anyone then."

Derek sighed "Except you slept with Callie, who by the way, you told Lexie was ancient history, got her pregnant and then told Lexie another baby was about to enter her life, so what did you really expect her to do Mark, you were moving on with your life, she was only trying to do the same."

Mark hated the exceptional reasoning his two best friends kept giving for Lexie's actions. They were supposed to be on his side weren't they? He turned back to the bar and signalled for another drink.

"No more Mark, we're leaving" Derek told him sternly.

"You're not the boss of me Shep."

"Except I am, because you are drunk. You need to fix this and alcohol won't help"

"I don't need to fix anything" Mark replied confused.

"You just told the whole hospital you cheated on your girlfriend" Derek stated looking round the bar at the many familiar faces. "So you should really talk to Julia before she finds out from somebody else, which she will. Then there is Lexie, who is in love with you and you just seriously hurt and humiliated her in front of her peers and fellows, so yeah Mark I would definitely say that some fixing is in order."

"She told you that too did she, that she still loved me?" Mark sneered. "Because what she says and what she does are generally two different things."

"No she didn't tell me that, she didn't have to. Ever since that stupid baseball game and you flaunting your girlfriend in front of her she has cried herself to sleep every night, and yeah that includes when she was still going out with Jackson, I heard her. Why the hell do you think she threw the baseball, because I know you know why she did that!" Derek now shouted at Mark, he was getting fed up of the whole Mark and Lexie saga and just wanted to see them both happy.

Mark remained quiet and Derek knew that what someone had said had finally sunk in. "Come on, I'm taking you home" He told his friend.

As Mark began to walk towards the door one of Tom's band mates grabbed Derek's attention. "I don't know what's going on with that guy and Lexie but I just thought you should know, Tom…he won't sleep with her, that's not what they are about." Derek looked at him confused but he just nodded and turned back to his friends.

* * *

><p>As Lexie struggled to work out how to get the key in the keyhole, Tom took it from her hands and opened it in one go.<p>

"Wow, how did you do that?" She asked, genuinely surprised.

"It's amazing how far sobriety gets you" he replied with a smirk. _No, that's not a smirk, only Mark can pull off a smirk._

"I need my bed" She decided, walking towards the staircase before veering for the sofa. Tom wasn't sure if it was because it was closer or because that is what she considered a straight line, but he let out a small laugh anyway.

"I'll get you some water, I think you should drink some before you go to sleep."

Before she could sit down, she carried on in a wobbly line towards the kitchen. "Food is this way"

He quickly grabbed a hold of her before she toppled over and sat her on the sofa.

"Come on Lexie, sit down I'll get you a glass of water and I'll make you some food okay?"

"But I don't know what I want…."

"How about a ham, banana and hot sauce sandwich?" He asked with a massive grin on his face.

"OMG YES!" Lexie shouted before she began a fit of laughter. "I can't believe you remember that! I haven't thought about that in forever."

"I remember all your quirks" He told her with a sad smile.

A few minutes later they were sat of the sofa, Lexie tucking into her sandwich

"I can't believe you're actually eating that!"

"What? It's delicious! You should try some" She told him pushing it towards his face.

"I didn't try it when I was 18, what makes you think I'm any stupider now?" He laughed as he pushed it back towards her.

"Do you ever think about that summer?" She asked him as she sat back putting the food aside.

"Yeah from time to time" He answered carefully.

"I've been thinking about it a lot recently" She admitted. "Sometimes I just wish I could go back, maybe things would have worked out differently if I'd just…"

"I know, but things happen, you can't change the past, it doesn't do to dwell on it. I mean you're becoming a surgical god and I'm becoming a rock god." He chuckled. "This is what we wanted isn't it?"

"I just thought I'd be happier"

"What's going on with you Lexie? You don't seem like yourself. Drinking on your own, shouting at people in bars, sleeping with someone else's guy, trying to make that guy jealous?"

"I'm not the same girl that left for Boston, Tom. A lot has happened since then." She sighed as she laid her head on his shoulder, folding her feet under her.

"Yeah like what?" He asked as he put his arm around her pulling her into a hug.

"Well Molly got married and lives on an army base with her husband and 5 year old daughter Laura" She informed. "We don't see her much since…well, my mum died"

"Oh Lexie, I'm sorry, I know how close you two were."

"Yeah, well my dad didn't take it too well and he started drinking and forgot to stop. So I had to come back to Seattle. Meredith had to give him part of her liver and now he's living with a tattooed 20 year old."

"Wait what? who's Meredith?"

"Oh yeah, that another thing. Turns out I have a half-sister that I never knew. I live with her now, she's really nice once she lets you know her, but it took a while, she hated me for a long time"

"Wow, things have changed. I remember thinking back then that you had the perfect family." Tom admitted

"I thought I did too"

He hugged her tighter. "Well what about being a surgeon, that must be pretty amazing right?"

She shrugged. "Yeah when you actually get to do something and people don't think you're going to go crazy on them."

"Lexie, you've been known to be a little neurotic at times but I'd hardly call you crazy."

Lexie laughed . "Yeah well when I was an intern we were all practicing stitches and things on each other and then I came up with the great idea that we could take an appendix out. I nearly killed my friend and was put on probation."

"Wow, Alexandra Caroline Grey, I always knew you had bad-ass in you. I knew all that rule following would get to you eventually!"

"Then there was the time that a guy came and shot up the hospital killing a load of innocent people when he only wanted to kill three doctors, one of which was me. He told me that as he pointed the gun at my head. I had a breakdown after that, and was screaming at a patient how she wanted me to kill her and I got committed to the psych ward. So yeah, people think I'm crazy."

"And the guy at the bar, where does he come into this?"

"I'm not talking about Mark" She replied putting an end to the matter.

"Okay" He knew when not to press the matter. "You know Lexie, I should probably get going…"

"No, stay please. We can spend tomorrow together, that's if you're not busy"

"I'm not, but I heard you say you had work." He reminded her.

"Oh, I'm sure Derek won't mind, it's not like he likes teaching anyway" She looked at him, pleading with those big brown eyes. He knew he couldn't say no.

"Fine but I'm putting you to bed, you'll be thankful for the quilt when you're hung-over in the morning"

When he had finally got her to her room, which consisted of him carrying her as she couldn't even cope with three steps, he placed her in the bed and took her shoes off her feet before throwing the cover over her.

"I'm sorry Tom" she told him sleepily, she could feel the tiredness kicking in at the softness of her bed.

"What for?"

"For leaving the way I did, for not staying in touch. You were always there for me, when I needed you most, you were there and I just went to Boston and never looked back. You didn't deserve it."

"It's fine, it's all in the past"

"No, it's not fine, but thank you for saying that anyway. And thank you for looking after me tonight."

"It was my pleasure. I'm going to go back to the couch now and let you sleep."

"Stay" She murmured as softly patted the bed as she began to succumb to sleep.

He sighed briefly before climbing into the other side of the bed and turning off the light. Lexie turned over and snuggled into his side.

* * *

><p>"mmm…Mark" Lexie sighed contently, feeling the warm body next to hers as she began to stir.<p>

"Guess again" Tom shook his head smiling, his mission today, he decided, was finding out exactly who this Mark guy was to Lexie. Because he was obviously more than her boss.

She actually jumped which caused him to laugh and she opened her eyes before the brightness forced her to shut them tight again.

"Tom? Oh God, my head. What time is it?"

He turned and looked at the clock on her bedside table "6:30"

"Oh crap! I should have been in work an hour ago" She exclaimed, jumping out of bed. She stopped suddenly as the vertigo hit her. The room was spinning and she felt like she was swaying from side to side. "Oh I don't feel so…" Her hand flying to her mouth stopped her sentence as she made a rapid dash for the bathroom.

He got out of bed and ran after her, able to grab her hair before she began to empty the contents of the stomach into the toilet bowl.

They stayed there for a while, Lexie throwing up every now and then until she couldn't anymore.

"Come on Lexie, you should got back to bed, get some sleep."

"No, I've got work"

"Well throw a sickie" he suggested. "You said Derek wouldn't mind"

"When did I say that? He'll have a right go at me. I'll go to the hospital and put in a banana bag, I'll be fine to work this afternoon, people do it all the time"

He could see he wasn't going to win this argument, he couldn't remember a time when he ever had. "Fine, but I'm driving you in and making sure you're okay. Then you can tell me what's going on between you and that boss of yours" he smiled sweetly.

"Fine, whatever" Lexie replied as she got up off the bathroom floor and made her way back to her room to get changed.

They were in the car on the way to the hospital 15 minutes later, when Lexie's pager beeped. "That'll be Derek wondering where I am, he's totally going to kill me"

She checked her pager. "Oh for God's sake, why does the universe hate me?" she groaned.

"What's wrong?"

"I forgot to ask Steve if I could swap services with him, now I've got to spend the day with Mark _freaking _Sloan and I really can't be bothered with his crap today" she sighed, resigned to the fact that today was going to be no better than yesterday.

"Okay that's it, stop skirting around the issue and tell me why you hate this guy so much when it seems that that really isn't the case."

"I don't know-"

"LEXIE"

"Ugh! Fine. I slept with him, well a few times…well we were dating…kind of, I mean…I moved in with him"

"So you were in love with him. What happened?"

"His 18 year old daughter showed up and he just decides she can live with us. Then we find out she's pregnant. I started to freak out you know. I couldn't cope with it. Then he decided that we would all live together and be this happy family, he never asked me once. I didn't want to be a 26 year old grandmother. So I left. But then that didn't work out for him anyway, Sloane went back to her mum and the baby was put up for adoption. He came to me, asked me for another chance. Eventually we got back together and then suddenly he's telling me he slept with his lesbian bff whilst we were broken up and now she was pregnant and having his baby and I had to accept that he was going to practically be a full-time dad and he left me behind again. So we were done. I still love him, but I didn't say anything because he has a girlfriend and he has his daughter and I don't know if I can handle it. But yesterday morning he was at the house and I bumped into him and I, well, we…well you heard."

He knew once she snapped she wouldn't stop talking till it was all out in the open. But he didn't expect quite so much drama. "So is this about him or is it the baby issue?"

"All of it" Lexie told him quickly, hoping to stop the conversation there.

"Well have you talked to him about the baby thing?"

"He knew I wasn't ready for babies"

"That's not what I asked. Have you talked to him about…"

"NO! I'm not talking about that, I can't, Can we just drop it please!"

The rest of the car journey was silent and they remained that way as they walked into the hospital. Lexie gathered the supplies she needed and headed for an empty room.

"I'll be there in a sec" Tom told her before turning to the nurses station. "Hey can you page a Dr. Mark…Sloan? I think it is. Tell him his resident that he's looking for is in exam room 3. Cheers"

"Ow, ow, ouch!" Lexie was saying each time she tried and failed to insert the IV into her arm.

"Lexie, don't you think we should get someone to help?" Tom asked.

"No I can do this" She answered, more determined than ever as she once more failed in her task.

"What the hell are you doing?" A voice came from outside the room as the door swung open.

"None of your business" She replied as he advanced into the room and grabbed hold of the IV.

"Jesus Lex! You smell like a distillery"

"Yeah well you smell like…like…" She couldn't come up with a decent reply as she made a scene of taking in his scent. _Damn, why did he have to be wearing that particular aftershave at this precise moment in time, the one that made her body tingle all over._

Mark smirked as he saw he eyes darken with desire, desire for him. He had dug the bottle out from it's hidden place purposely, knowing that she was more likely to accept his apology if he wore it. He may have been playing dirty but after what Derek had said to him last night, it was important to him for Lexie not to hate him.

He inserted the IV into her arm in one go. "I'm really sorry about what I said last night, it was unkind and untrue."

"Yeah because I've slept with like seven people in my whole life, you've slept with seven before lunch, you're the resident man-whore so you have no right to judge me" She tried to sound angry, she was angry with him but being in close proximity she was struggling to think straight.

That hurt him, he knew he deserved it, he had been a man-whore, but not since the last time Lexie left, she changed him and he couldn't do it anymore, he didn't want to. "I know, I'm sorry. I wish I could take it back."

"And what about announcing to the whole bar that we had sex? Because by now it'll be all over the hospital."

"Yeah it is, I'm sorry. There is no excuse for it. I was drunk and jealous"

They both stared at each other at that statement. Neither could believe he'd actually said it. Tom took this moment to slip out of the room and close the door, guarding it. This moment couldn't be interrupted. He'd only seen Mark twice but drunk or sober he saw the desire in his eyes as he looked at Lexie.

"J-Jealous?" Lexie finally managed to whisper.

At that moment things began clicking into place for Mark. The reason for many things over the past few months. The longing looks. Taking Jackson under his wing to drive a wedge in their relationship. Flaunting Julia in front of Lexie at every given opportunity to make her jealous. The reason he offered to make Jackson leave when she turned up on his doorstep on valentines day. The reason he cheated on his girlfriend to be with her. He just couldn't say those words to her again just yet, they had fallen on deaf ears too many times already.

"The thought of anybody else touching you, kissing you, seeing you naked, having their name pass your lips as you climax; it makes my blood boil." He growled.

Lexie blushed slightly and opened her mouth to reply, but closed it again when no words came out.

"And I know that we've…that I've made mistakes in the past and you insist that we don't work, but what if we could make it work Lex? You and me? I'm not saying we rush things, I tried to make you go at a faster pace than you were comfortable with before and I promise, we can go slow. You know…date, there doesn't even have to be sex, I just don't want to spend another minute without you being part of my life. I know I don't deserve another chance and I certainly don't deserve you but what do you say? Please give me another shot, I'll prove to you that we can be happy Lex." He pleaded, looking into her eyes the whole time. And even though he daren't say the words, even though he was terrified she would reject him he couldn't stop them spilling from his lips.

"I love you"

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><p><strong>Sorry, had to leave it there. Couldn't resist. So I tried to raise some questions in this chapter about Tom and Lexie and the past but I dont think I did a great job of it, so any advice on how to mention something without actually saying anything about it would be welcomed (if that even made sense?) :) <strong>

**As always, Reviews are like ice-cream on a hot summers day.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Is anyone else getting annoyed by the amount of updates on this site recently, I swear its screwing it up worse, I have to press everything twice to get it to work!**

**Anyways, on with the story...**

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><p>He knew he shouldn't have said it, he knew that. He told her they could take it slow and then he said those three little words. But they weren't little to either of them. They were huge! He hadn't even realised that he still felt that way, he'd begun to have little inklings that something was there over the past couple of days but all of a sudden the feelings bombarded him and shoved him back into reality and forced those words out of his mouth. He saw the terrified look that appeared in her eyes and he turned and ran.<p>

He had to get out of the hospital, he needed some fresh air and time to think. When he finally looked up he realised he was stood in front of Julia's apartment. He took in a deep breath and slowly let it out. Well he might as well get this over with.

"Mark?" A surprised Julia answered the door. The surprise soon turned to disgruntlement. "Where the hell have you been? I rang you 10 times yesterday, we were supposed to be going out!"

"Sorry Julia, I've just had a lot on my plate of late, I've had some stuff that I needed to work through." He replied, not quite looking her in the eyes.

"Oh, come in" She told him as she half accepted the excuse. As a doctor she knew work came first but she thought he'd have had time to get in touch. "That hospital works you way too hard you know"

Mark stepped into the apartment hesitantly, making sure he knew exactly where the exit was, she was going to throw him out, it was only a matter of time.

"It wasn't work stuff…it was…well, personal stuff. I've had a lot of stuff to think about."

Julia noticed the way that he was fidgeting, almost nervous, it wasn't like Mark at all and a few thoughts suddenly ran through her head, she was almost excited, what he was about to say next was going to be huge, she could tell. She took a seat on the couch and gestured for him to do the same.

"What's going on Mark?"

Mark remained standing. He wasn't allowing himself the luxury of comfort, this was anything but comfortable. He shoved his hand in the pockets of his leather jacket and stood there a moment, trying to get the words together in his head before he spoke.

"We've been going out for four months now and it's been going great. What we have is great, you're great. I just…relationships aren't easy for me, I'm not good at all the feelings and stuff, but I don't want to hurt you-"

"Mark…" She interrupted smiling, he was cute when trying to convey emotion.

He put his hand up to stop her. "No, let me finish. I don't want to hurt you but I can't lie to you, it's not fair, so I have to tell you…"

"Mark, what's going on?" Her face suddenly dropped. Whatever he was about to say wasn't going to be about them taking the next step she realised, too late.

"I slept with someone else."

The sentence hung in the air between them in the silence that followed. Guilt covered Mark's face as betrayal filled Julia's.

"W-Well, did it mean anything?" She finally asked.

"I didn't think it did." Mark replied diplomatically.

"Well what the hell is that supposed to mean?" Julia asked as the anger at his infidelity set in.

As much as he wished he could run, he knew that she deserved the truth. He looked anywhere but at her as he explained "I thought that it meant nothing, that it was just a stupid mistake. I didn't know why I'd done it so I spent a lot of time thinking about why. I talked to Callie and Derek about it, they raised questions for me that I didn't know needed answering. Then I saw her with someone else and…well this morning I told her I was in love with her."

"So you sleep with someone once and you're declaring your love for her, whereas you've been in a relationship with me for four months and that word scares the crap out of you ?" She asked incredulously.

"No, it's…I mean…"

"Oh so you've slept with her more than once?" She asked, finally getting to the bottom of things.

"Yes, I mean, no." Mark paused, trying to explain it properly but getting flustered. He sighed. "I slept with her yesterday morning, that's the only time I've cheated. But we've slept together before, she's my ex-girlfriend." He finally admitted, knowing Julia was only going to get more angry.

He wasn't wrong, she stood up, seething, for a moment he was sure she was about to hit him. "I can not believe you! You started a relationship with me knowing full well that you are still in love with someone else and now she wants you back, you're what? Just going to go running back to her ?"

"Julia…"

"No, I don't want to hear it Mark, just get the hell out."

He wasn't surprised, he'd been waiting for those words since he walked in there. He walked to the door and opened it before pausing on the threshold. This time he did meet her eyes, he wanted to make sure she believed the next words out of his mouth.

"I didn't know I was still in love with her. And no, she doesn't want me back, I told her how I felt and I saw the fear cross her eyes. I just though you deserved to know the truth. And the truth is that I can't do this anymore because I can't be in a relationship with you knowing how I feel about her."

* * *

><p>As the door to the exam room flew open and Mark came flying out Tom was nearly knocked over. Mark turned round, about to apologise before he realised who it was. Instead he threw Tom a dirty look and carried on his way.<p>

Tom shook his head and walked into the room. Lexie was now stood up, looking as if she wanted to follow Mark but at the same time couldn't make herself move.

"What the hell happened?" He asked confused, they seemed to be getting on fine before he left.

Lexie looked a little awestruck. "He told me he loved me and he wants us to try again"

"Well that's good isn't it?"

"I don't know" She replied in a whisper "He said that and then ran off before I could answer"

"Well is it what you want? Do you want another chance?"

"I-I…" The last two days had been far too crazy, she was so confused right now.

"Well you've got to work it out Lexie because Mark isn't going to wait around for you forever, he's giving you this one chance, the question is, are you brave enough to take it?" Tom asked

"We didn't work"

"Lexie Grey" He told her sternly. "You pull me into this situation, I give you my advice, you have to make up your mind. Look, something's just happen and you can't change the outcome, what happens, happens. But sometimes, things happens and if you're really lucky you have a chance to change it. You have a chance to learn from your mistakes and still get the happy ending. This is your decision to make Lexie, but make it without thinking about the past. Make it knowing that two, three years down the line you'll never regret making that decision."

Lexie looked up at Tom "You've always been too smart for your own good"

* * *

><p>Lexie spent the rest of the day in the skills lab. She wasn't in the right state or mood to be dealing with patients. Plus her attending was nowhere to be found after he had run away from her this morning. When her shift finished she walked out of the hospital and stood there taking in the cool Seattle air. She was meant to be meeting Tom for a drink but as she looked up she caught sight of a light on in the buildings across from the hospital. It was Mark's apartment. Before she knew what she was doing she was across the road, had ridden the elevator and was stood rather nervously as she had just knocked on the door.<p>

A rather inebriated Mark opened the door, He had been drinking since he had got home after his conversation with Julia. He looked between Lexie and the half empty bottle of scotch, silently wondering if this was a hallucination or not.

Before Lexie had a chance to think about it she threw her arms around his neck and pulled him into a kiss, almost knocking him over in the process.

"Wh-" Mark finally managed as he pulled away to catch his breath.

"Th-that's a yes. To trying again. To us. But I want to start from the start because I'm still not convinced that we're going to work out. So I'm saying yes, to dating, but no to sex, absolutely no sex, because as mind-blowingly fantastic as you are, I can't get wrapped up in this. I can't get serious with you until I feel comfortable enough with this to commit to something longer. But I love you too much to let this opportunity pass us by so yes…yes…I will give us another chance."

Mark stood there stunned. After all that had happened, he couldn't believe she was here, he couldn't believe she was agreeing to this. "What about Tom?" He sneered the name.

"Tom's a friend, well he was, I don't know what he is now, but you don't have to worry about him, it's purely platonic. Oh God! What about Julia?" She asked, suddenly remembering the red-head dating Mark.

"We broke up. I told her I couldn't be with her knowing how I felt about you"

"Even though you didn't know if I'd give this another go?" Lexie asked shocked.

"It didn't matter, it wasn't fair to her and I didn't want to be with her, I just want you, it's all I ever wanted."

Lexie, feeling the topic getting too heavy after declaring a fresh start began to feel a little trapped. "Well, I'd better get going, I'll see you tomorrow I guess, I'm on your service after all."

"Wait, Lex" He stopped her. "Stay"

"Mark" she chided "That's not what we-"

He cut her off. "And I'm not suggesting that. We can just watch a film and eat pizza, you've got to be hungry right?"

She thought about it "Yeah, the last thing I ate was a ham, banana and hot sauce sandwich at about midnight last night" she told him chuckling to herself.

"Ugh" Mark exclaimed, "I don't think I want to ask."

"No, probably not. So what film is on?" She asked, taking her coat off.

"I'm not sure, have a look" he told her. "Chicken, pepper and mushroom I presume?" He asked referring to the pizza.

"Good guess" She replied as she took a seat, quickly texting Tom that her plans had changed "Seeing as this is our first date"

He came back holding a glass of red wine and a cup of coffee, as he sat next to her he passed her the wine.

"Another good guess" She told him teasingly.

"Lex, I know we're starting from the beginning but you're going to have to accept there are things I know about you, and there are probably things you know about me"

"Like the fact you're drinking coffee to sober you up to stop yourself from trying to get in my pants later?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about" He told her, feigning ignorance.

"Mm hmm, sure you don't" She chuckled.

"So what the film?" Mark asked, changing track, because thinking about not getting into Lexie's pants made him think about getting into Lexie's pants.

"Made of Honour" She told him straight faced, already knowing his reaction before it came out.

"Seriously? Such a goofy chick flick. And the dude totally reminds me of Derek with his perfect hair" He began slagging it off.

Lexie couldn't help the giggle that escaped. "So, it's such a cute movie, besides, I'm more freaked out by the other guy looking like a clone of Hunt."

"OMG, you're right, we totally have to watch it now so we can mock them later!" It was purely out of character for him to get so excited over watching a chick flick, but he was so euphoric with the mixture of alcohol and the fact that Lexie was in his apartment that he just didn't care.

"What's with the over excitement, it's only a film" She told him, slightly worried by his odd behaviour.

"No, it's a film with you" He corrected as he settled back in his seat and put his arm subtly behind her. She noticed but she didn't say anything, she just leaned into him slightly and let a small smile grace her lips.

The beginning is always a good place to start.

* * *

><p>That had been five weeks ago. They had been taking it slow, extremely slow. They had spent a lot of that time together but there relationship had stayed almost completely platonic so far. They had kissed, on a few occasions, but as soon as it had got heated Lexie has pulled away and started up a new conversation. So instead they spent their time watching films, had meals out, taking long walks at night. They'd even acted as tourists and visited places such as the space needle and the aquarium. It was all very neutral ground, allowing them to get reacquainted with one another and talk about things.<p>

She could tell that Mark was struggling with keeping his distance, but he never pushed her and she was grateful for that. It wasn't that she didn't want to take that step, she did, she really did. In fact, most nights she had to hold on to the last bit of restraint she had, like her life depended on it, so as not to jump his bones. But this was their last chance, they both knew that. So this time they were doing it right, she was making sure. There would be no hiding their relationship, no skipping steps, no making decisions without talking it through with one another, and no babies appearing when least expected…

…_Oh Crap._

* * *

><p><strong>So I think the next chapter is the one you're all waiting for. There shall be MarkTom interaction and some back story, had to put this in first though because it felt right. **


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